When is it Self-Defense

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Ask yourself at every lesson, "when is it self-defense; when is it NOT self-defense?" Make this your mantra every time you learn, practice and train your self-defense lessons. Lesson: Self-defense is NOT what everyone, almost everyone, thinks it is because self-defense is much much more than the self-defense lessons karate teaches. 

At seminars, dojo self-defense lessons and most of all after an incident always, always, ask these two questions not just to ensure you're within the limitations set by society and societies legal system but also within the limitations of your applicable efforts at self-protection. Tons of stuff is taught as self-defense and most of it can fall within either answer because what is effective and legally/socially acceptable depends so the sword with double razor sharp edges cuts both ways. I can say in my limited experiences that some stuff taught as self-defense may even start out acceptable but when completed passed that line of separation right smack dab into the illegal stuff. 

If you are taking martial arts for defense this one concept is probably a very critical top shelf concept that needs to be drilled into the practitioners head both conscious and unconscious. It must be the questions asked at every lesson, every seminar and every practice session regardless and lets not forget to ask, "Is there a way to avoid using these skills and what would that be?" In short, when you teach the lesson there should be a valid, quantifiable and realistic story line as to why one would implement that particular methodology. 

I don't me saying, "What do you do when someone grabs your wrist," but a complete realistic scenario from beginning to end.

What were you doing leading up to the encounter, what could you have done to avoid the encounter and are there other methods to avoid, deescalate and/or escape and evade the encounter? Failure in these leaves way to much to chance and luck than the ramifications of such endeavors indicates in the reality of violence and conflict. 

What would you do if your short video of a self-defense move ended up being copied, without content and intent behind the reasoning of said method/video, and leading to criminal prosecution of the user when they said, "I just used this self-defense method taught to me by master so-n-so on Facebook or Youtube, etc., do you really think that a jury, especially in a civil case after criminal, is going to accept your reasoning especially after viewing the short, terse and incomplete lesson? 

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